AWARDS FINALIST: Reefton Powerhouse Charitable Trust Inc. – Reefton Powerhouse Project

A project born over "a beer too many" in 2002 has led to the restoration and recommissioning of one of the most significant sites in the country's energy history.

The Reefton hydroelectric power station, commissioned in 1888, provided the first public power supply in the Southern Hemisphere, earning the town the "Town of Light" nickname.

Only the foundations remain of the original powerhouse, and along with the remnants of a 1908 replacement, the 1908 and 1935 turbine bits and the 1908 penstock and water control gates, are a Heritage New Zealand listed site.

The idea of a public power scheme followed an 1886 demonstration of electric lighting in four Reefton hotels by amateur electrician Walter Prince. The Reefton Electric Light and Power Company was formed and was generating power by 1888, making Reefton - a prosperous goldmining centre - the first town in the Southern Hemisphere to be lit by electric lights and earning it the nickname The Town of Light.

The run-of-river power scheme, on the Inangahua River opposite Blacks Point, was purchased by the Grey Electric Power board in 1946 and was decommissioned when Reefton joined the national grid in 1946. The powerhouse was demolished in 1961.

In 1988 - the station's centenary - there was talk of restoring it but, in the words of the Reefton Powerhouse Charitable Trust, it had gone to rack and ruin and was covered in gorse and broom.

In 2002, after "a beer too many", the group started thinking about the possibility of total reconstruction alongside the original foundations.

Twenty-four years, $3.9 million and many hours of fundraising, planning and construction later, the power station is generating again and is up for the Community Initiative of the Year Award in this year's Energy Excellence Awards.

The trust purchased the land the powerhouse stands on in 2022 as part of a plan to restore the original intake, water race, tunnels and fluming, build a replica of the 1888 powerhouse and install modern hydrogeneration equipment.

Investigation of the water resource identified generation potential of 240 kilowatts, leading to the trust installing a modern hydro unit supplied by Turab of Sweden.

The project faced a series of challenges, including securing access to privately owned land, obtaining multiple consents and concessions, purchasing two land blocks and managing construction during the Covid-19 period. Cost escalation during the pandemic created significant pressure, with some costs increasing by more than 100 per cent.

Funding for the project has come from grants, donations and in-kind support. Now that the scheme is generating again, the trust is earning revenue by supplying power to the national grid through Westpower.

As well as electricity generation, the project has expanded public access to land around Reefton, with an upgraded Powerhouse Walk, new bridges, interpretation panels and replica 1888 street lighting, and opened a recreation area over 17 hectares of land acquired during the project.

Buller deputy mayor Shayne Barry says the project has restored the historic power scheme as a functioning asset and created a visitor destination.

The next part of the project is the reconstruction of the 1906 and 1935 powerhouse buildings.

The annual Energy Excellence Awards will be held in Wellington on 19 August. The Community Initiative of the Year award is sponsored by Eagle Technology.